


Long Ago

by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Human Sans, Lots of OCs - Freeform, Wartime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-10-03 03:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10234355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom/pseuds/FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: ...two races ruled over earth. Humans and Monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two. During the battle, a human mercenary finds himself siding more and more on that of the Monsters. And it seems like he'll fight for them, whether with flesh or not.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was slowly setting beneath the horizon, stretching out the shadows and dying everything bright orange. It was quiet, aside from the crunching footsteps of the young man walking underneath the eaves of the trees.

To his side, a sword was clutched shakily. Its gleaming blade reflected the sun's light onto the ground with renewed vigor. Glancing about the treetops, eyes shielded from the light with his hand, he spotted the subject of his search. Nestled in the nook of a particularly thick tree branch and its trunk he slept.

"Sans!" the young man called up. Sans's eyes snapped open, shining blue in the low light. Upon finding the source of the voice, he jumped down from the perch to stand in front of him.

Despite his terrifying reputation, Sans was not impressive to look at. He was shorter than most men with white fluffy hair that hung over his large blue eyes. His face was round, but not quite young. Bags were set under his eyes, engraved in his beige skin. Wrapped about him like a security blanket was something of an over-sized cloak.

"hey Phyllis." He greeted the solider. Phyllis gave a stiff salute, back straight and shoulders shaking. Sans laughed. "calm down buddy, I ain't gonna eat ya'."

"Yessir." Phyllis said. "Sir, you're requested to return to the base camp and to stop sleeping in trees."

"I can do one of those." Sans said with a shrug "okay, I'll get back to camp or whatever. What'd they need me for?"

"A mission, sir." The young soldier reported "You're to go ambush a moving squadrant of monsters."

Sans yawned his acknowledgement, stretching his arms out in front of him as he nodded "got it. so. tree." He rubbed at his eyes a moment, before leaping off of the ground straight into the overhanging branches.

"Wait! Sir!" Phyllis called "You're supposed to report to camp first-!"

"tell 'em I'll meet 'em there!" Sans yelled back, already on his way across the canopy of branches. Phyllis was left snorting out his displeasure at the man's obscurities.

Although he was true to his word. Before the sun was down, he had his team in sight. He jumped down to appear the one that seemed to be in charge.

"hey." He greeted casually. The man jumped, almost impaling his in the process. Upon recognition, he huffed angrily.

"So you must be Sans."

"bingo." Sans grinned. He peered through their cover, separating the leaves with two fingers "so what can ya tell me about the group we're dusting?"

The commander huffed but explained anyways "From what we're told, there's about five of them-"

"'five'?" Sans quoted. He snorted indignantly "y'need me to help take care of five stinkin' monsters? seriously?"

"Yes." The man growled "You see, these five monsters are supposedly in the monsters' 'Royal Guard', supposedly the highest rank they have."

"eh." Sans didn't seem impressed but didn't complain anymore "what kind of monsters are they?"

His commander huffed but described them for him "From our intel, we know one of them appears to be some sort of tortoise. Another one is made of fire, there's two dog-like creatures, and they're led by a warrior named Sydna-"

"woah, like, fish-lady Sydna?" Sans said. An unsettling grin stretched across his features "OH, this just got a lot more interesting." He coughed into his fist to clear his throat. A quick flick of his wrist and a large, jagged knife was in his hand, at the ready. He winked to the man "I'll take care of fish-lady. Don'tcha worry about her." The man opened his mouth to protest, but by the time he took a breath, Sans was already gone.

"Sir." Said another soldier, saluting the Commander "No disrespect intended, but you just allowed that man to completely disregard your authority-"

"He's not under my authority." The man huffed "One of the higher-ups hired him."

"Oh!" Exclaimed the soldier "He's a mercenary?"

"Yeah. And a damn good one, from what I've heard. Dusted an entire troop of monsters by himself, apparently." He snorted "He'd be the best soldier we have if he followed orders."

The soldier nodded sympathetically, and the pair was completely oblivious to Sans eavesdropping on their conversation. He snickered, covering his mouth with his hand.

"they think I can do that?" he whispered to himself, grinning in his pleasure "yeesh, I appreciate the praise but rumors are just rumors." He spent another minute or two chuckling to himself. Then he stretched out his legs and went on his way. His smile faded away into a frown. Sweat slicked the side of his face as he leapt through the branches.

"although I guess I kind of asked for it." he mused to himself "being so mysterious and such. of course rumors would start to circulate." He sighed "not to mention I grin like a psychopath whenever I'm told I'm going into a dangerous mission." The grin mentioned once again set on his face, though the sweat still prevailed "deception, thy name is coping mechanism."

The sun had well past set when he was ready and spotted the ambush-ees. The fire man mentioned led the way, illuminating the path for the rest of the group. Sydna, the most feared of the monsters next to King Asgore, followed suit, eyes glaring about, magical spear in her claws, at the ready. After her was bipedal tortoise-monster, armed with a giant Warhammer that he carried over his shoulder like a baseball bat. He trotted along after Sydna, looking around seemingly without a care. At the rear were a pair of dogs. Both with executioner hoods, armed with axes. Their noses and ears were perked. Searching.

Sans took a breath, steeled his nerves, and locked his eyes on his target. He found by taking down the commander first, it was easier to dispose of the rest of them. Although, this was a more advanced troop. So it may be difficult.

He followed stealthily, quietly. Eyes locked on the neck of the fish-like warrior. Waiting for the best opportunity to strike. It took until near dawn. In near-silence and blinding darkness. Only the fire-man granting any light. But as the sky begun to gray, Sydna took the lead.

At the small about of entropy, Sans launched for the woman's neck. He struck hard, knife lodging deep into her flesh, her howling out her pain and rage. As it was, apparently one strike wasn't enough.

She responded frighteningly quickly, turned and lunging her spear deep into his torso. He spat out blood, quivering and shaking at the pain that overwhelmed his senses. Stumbling, he managed to evade the next swipe of her spear, as well at the impact of the tortoise's hammer. He wasn't so lucky in avoiding the flame from the fire-man.

It seared his skin, causing his blood to boil, but his mind made him turn his wound to it. It seared shut lazily and painfully, but it kept him from bleeding out on the spot.

Vision blurring and blood pulsing in his ears and filling his nostrils, he heard the following strikes of the rest of his group. In the chaos, he sprung back into the canopy. Clawing like a mad cat when he didn't quite make it, he dragged himself onto a branch. Breathing heavily but not taking in enough air.

Sans was able to catch the sight of Sydna pulling his knife out of her flesh just in time to jab it into that of one of the humans'. Screams filled the air as the people's SOULs were pulled out, turned green, and they found themselves unable to flee.

Adrenaline fueling his scramble, he fled through the trees as the sounds of the dying and abandoned cemented themselves into his heart. Long after they were out of sight, he still heard them. Throbbing in his SOUL like a thorn in his chest. Or maybe that was the pain of deep wound seared shut. Whatever it was, it caused him to miss the next branch and he plummeted to the ground.

Sans yelped out in pain, tears brimming in his eyes and cascading down his face. At the base of the trunk he curled up in on himself, covering his head in his hands and bringing his knees up as far as he was able. Bloodied shreds of his cloak clung onto his wound, pulling uncomfortably at it with every breath he took. Pain coursed through his body. But he found himself without the will or the strength to do anything about it.

Instead he stayed quiet, sniffling and sobbing to himself and drowning in his guilt and pain.

It grew dark again.

His stomach roared with hunger and his eyes stung with tears and his body was still burning.

A wind picked up, rustling the branches overhead. In the distance, more battles raged on like echoes. Swords clanging, people screaming. Dying.

But he couldn't move.

At some point, he must've fallen asleep. As his eyes opened, dull with crust. Sunlight filled the clearing, bathing the bare ground with its glow. Where he slept, leaves kept the light from touching him. Sans curled in on himself, shivering.

Though he felt numb.

The screams and blood of the now deceased seemed little more than a nightmare now. And now that he was awake, and now that it was bright, it means nothing now.

So he laid on the ground. Staring at the patches of light make their way across the clearing. His body felt broken and his mind was somewhere else. His vague stare seemed to focus on a blade of grass, swaying gentle in a small breeze.

The sun began to set again.

That was when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Faint at first. But as they grew louder, his heart began to beat harder. Despite his brokenness, a single thought brought him to his feet.

Stay Alive Stay Alive

Clutching onto his side, his lungs heaving, he leaned heavily against the tree he had spent so long against. He had no weapon. No way of defense.

Sans gulped, crouching painfully as he prepared to jump. But as he knelt, something snapped with a sickening crrreeck.

He yelled in pain despite all logic, hitting the ground which rocketed renewed pain through his body. The footsteps hurried in his direction.

Sans closed his eyes shut, tears slipping through the lids. He bit his lip and prayed that'd they'd kill him quickly.

They were loud enough for him to know they were in the clearing. A light gasp was heard and they approached. Would he had opened his eyes, he could assume that their owner was standing right in front of them. Instead, he stiffened. Waiting for death.

Large, warm hand cradled around his form and he let out another squeak of pain.

"I do apologize." Said a soft voice. Sans didn't respond as he was lifted into the air and off the ground. The voice continued to speak "So you are alive, correct? That is a relief…" still he offered no response. But the pain was…relieved somehow. Not entirely gone, but dulled. Something warm was drawn up against his cramped body. Arms wrapped about him, as if to shield and support him. Hair tickled at his nose.

As curiosity finally won, Sans forced himself to open his eyes.

The voice's owner was a monster. A long, white snout that was barbed with fangs. On her head, horns arched up into the orange-lit sky. Her fur was long, white, and quite soft. And she looked down on him with the most pure smile of relief.

"Are you well?" she asked.

Sans stared at her a moment, then opened his mouth to respond. Hoarse coughs came out instead of words. He hacked for several moments, and he did, the female monster wrapped her arms tighter around him. He coughed up blood, speckling her white fur with red.

"oh- shi-" Sans swallowed, his mouth dry aside from the blood. "s-sorry-"

"Do not worry about it." she smiled "I am glad you are alive."

"oh." Sans blinked. He forced a smile but found he hadn't the strength to say anymore. Instead he gave a light nod, went limp, and resigned himself to his fate.


	2. Chapter 2

His eyes slowly opened to a low-lit room. A lantern illuminated the wooden walls. Flexing his hands, he felt coarse bandages wrapped about his fingers. Something soft was set beneath him, and wrapped above him. His body was filled with warmth.

Sans closed his eyes again. He was far too heavy for him to try to move. So he settled into the bedding and tried to clear his mind. He listened to the fire from the lantern crackle and burn, he listened to the soft wind tossle branches outside.

Something creaked. From deductive reasoning, he assumed a door. Once again, he laboriously opened his eyes and turned his head onto its side. Through his hazy vision, he saw the last moment of the door swinging shut. Sans blinked. He craned his neck slowly, looking about the room for whomever may have paid him a visit. Perhaps they left?

The man dragged himself so he was sitting up. With a light shriek of pain, he slapped his hand over his side and grinded his teeth. Hissing, he curled his fingers in deeper to his flesh. As the pain subsided, it left him breathless and covered in sweat.

"HOI!" a very high voice shrieked. Sans screamed out in pain as something slammed into his stomach. Grimacing, he looked down to see….some sort of Cat-Dog…

"HOI!" it yelled again, standing on its hind paws to place its forepaws on either of his cheeks. The Cat-Dog had dark, beady eyes and a cat-like smile. Brown hair draped the sides of its white face and curtained the sides of its head and thus the base of its two pairs of ears. On its head sat a white cap with a small, red, cross. It seemed to wear a short white gown of sorts. And the longer he stared, the more annoyed it looked. It slapped its paws on either side of his face again, hard.

"OW-SHI-" Sans screamed.

"PwoFANOITY!" The creature barked, slapping him again. "Us Ur MAnnERS!"

"What!?" Sans hissed "What are you even saying!?"

"UZE. UR. MAANNNEERSS!" it screamed again. It pouted, dropping from its paws and hopping back onto the ground, muttering to itself.

"yeesh." Sans mumbled, rubbing his cheek. "sorry."

The animal nodded "Oi forgives u!" It bounced up and down in its delight, ears flopping every which way "Hoi Human! I'm Tem! Nurse Tem!"

"'NurseTem'…?" Sans repeated. NurseTem nodded its head eagerly.

"Yaya! NurseTem!" it bounced some more "Fwiend of Princess TORII! Fwiend ask NurseTem to Healp u!"

"uh…." Sans frowned "thanks. who's princess tori?"

"Wuuhhwhhaaaaaa!?" NurseTem gasped, eyes bulging out of its head "U dunno PrinCess TORI!?" its jaw somehow dropped to the floor "But PrincCOISS TORI brought u 2 NurseTem! PrinCoiss TORI pick-ed u UP! Brought 2 NurseTEM! NurseTem FIX-ITED-"

"okay, okay, stop." Sans interrupted, rubbing his temples "i need a moment. where am i?"

NurseTem took a deep breath then explained in a way that makes more sense "Princess TORI brought u to old surv-oi shack. To heals u. NurseTem help."

"all right. so…" he thought "she's the king's daughter?"

"NOPEE!" the strange Cat-Dog chirped "Princess TORI is King's FIANCÉ!" It nodded knowingly "Not moirried yet. SO. Not Queen Yet!"

"okay, i get it." Sans hummed. He gently massaged his side and stared at the Tem "so… YOU patched me up?"

The Tem nodded. But slowly, the nod turned into a disappointed shaking of the head. "Uh…No…. But Tem keep EYEs on U!"

"noted." Sans muttered. Clearly him surviving was not a high priority. He winced as suddenly something sharp was jabbed into the crook of his arm. "Ow!" He hissed, throwing his arm out on instinct. The small cat-dog smacked against the wall. It hit it with a 'thump', fell onto the floor, and jumped backed up onto its paws. NurseTem shook itself up and trotted back to his bedside, picking up a now-used needle an tossing it into a nearby bin. Sans muttered to himself, rubbing his arm. "what did you just stab in me?"

NurseTem had strange reaction to this. It hopped up and down, ears and hair flopping around every each way. Its eyes bulging out of its head, wide with excitement. Its small mouth smacked open and closed as it bounced faster and faster until it was practically vibrating.

"MWOORPPPHHIIINNNEEEEE!" It screamed happily.

Sans blinked. His mouth folded into a confused frown. "what?"

NurseTem took another breathe and barked out "Morphine!"

"morphine?" Sans blinked, still clearly confused.

NurseTem tilted its head "u dunno wut MORPHINE iss?"

Sans simply shook his head.

NurseTem responded with a pout "srsly? U…duno what morphine is? Don't hoomans uze morphine for boo-boos and such?"

Sans shrugged "i'm not very smart, sorry."

NurseTem spat at him, though not in a way that seemed judgemental. Instead, it padded about in a circle three times, then trotted over to a small leather bag that Sans just realized was placed by the door. Sticking the front half of its body in its bag, it explained:

"we uze Morpheens to help numb a wound, helps with surgeries. Steetches."

"oh." Sans responded numbly, a light flush coming to his face as this strange, strange creature seemed to be smarter than he was. He then tensed his shoulders "wait-surgery-?"

"Yaya!" The Nurse bounced up and down "Tem perform SURGERRIIEEESSSSSSSSS!"

Sans backpedaled, ignoring the pain that spread through his body like wildfire. His eyes wide, the whites taking up practically all of his face. He threw his arms out as if to shield himself.

"n-no, that's okay, okay?" he grinned nervously, practically drenched in sweat. "i'm feeling fine, really-!"

The Nurse hushed him with a paw on his face, dropping a small bag of candies into his lap. Then, it sat back on its hind paws, coughed and reiterated "Sugaries." It motioned to the bag "sweets."

Sans blinked again. Then awkwardly accepted the candies. "wait…uh…why the morphine, then?"

"CuZ u seem Eezily startled." NurseTem nodded "Morphine Halp calmz use. Also candies. Candies helps."

Sans gave an awkward laugh which turned into a hoarse wheeze. A few deep breathes and he found that perhaps the morphine was a good thing. As he began to hurt less. He slouched as his body relaxed. NurseTem chirped its content, patting one of his hands with its paw. Then, with a tad of an exaggeration, the nurse tucked the human snuggly into the bed. With a loving kiss on his forehead and a hard candy shoved in his face, the monster returned to shuffling about in its things.

And they were left in silence. For a little bit. Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Sans tensed. NurseTem's eyes darted over to the door, small fangs bared. Armed with a pair of ….safety scissors, the monster pressed an ear against the door and scratched at it twice.

Silence.

Three knocks.

The nurse scratched twice again.

Two knocks.

A pause.

One more knock.

Apparently content with this response, NurseTem let out a delighted squeal and threw the scissors into the wall (and it somehow stuck). Happily squeaking, it scrambled to open the door to allow the visitor in. It was whom Sans assumed was the princess.

She smiled at NurseTem as she passed, closing the door gently behind her. The goat-like monster cast a glance over in his direction. Upon seeing the human was awake, her eyes widened and she quickly strode to his bedside. Her smile was large and genuine.

"You are awake!" She exclaimed happily "How are you feeling? Does your wound hurt?"

Sans just stared at her "uh…..i'm not dead? so. yeah. i'd say i'm good."

"That is excellent news-!"

"MORRRRRRPHHEEEEEENNNEEEEEEE!" NurseTem randomly screeched, holding a large syringe of the stuff over its head like a flag. Toriel snorted her annoyance, giving her oblivious friend a peeved glare.

"uh….yay?" Sans muttered.

"Excuse me a moment." Toriel said, gently picking up the cat-dog. She opened the door, set the small monster on the ground, and promptly punted it out the door.

"woah." Sans blinked "uh…rude?"

Toriel shooked her head "Not at all. She actually enjoys being kicked out of places."

Sans bit his lip. But found he was incapable of holding back "does she get a kick out of it?"

She stared at him a moment. He stared back, sweat slicking the back of his neck. He half expected her to kill him on the spot. But to his pleasant surprise, she instead laughed. It was a soft thing at first, quiet and shrill but then it rose into a wild, chortling bleating. Sans grinned.

"do ya like puns, your majesty?" He asked.

Upon the mention of her title, she stopped. "Oh… did NurseTem tell you about that?" She seemed upset.

Sans shrugged, winced, and forced himself to relax. "uh…yeah. it- er, she did."

"I see." The lady said, beginning to tidy things up about the cabin. She avoided looking at him "Yes. But I would prefer it if you would call me Toriel."

Sans nodded even though she couldn't see it. So he settled with an awkward 'mmhmm'. So. It was quiet a moment, but Sans didn't have the sense to keep his mouth shut.

"y'know turning your back on me isn't all that smart." Sans said "it'd be pretty easy to stab you in the back."

"But you will not." She said it calmly, as an observation. A fact.

Sans rose an eyebrow, a toothy grin stretching across his face "won't i now? what makes you so sure?"

"Well, for one." Toriel said, back to him as if to emphasize "You would have done it by now. Secondly, if that was your intent, you would not speak it."

"or maybe i made you think that on purpose." Sans said.

"Perhaps. But you are bluffing." She said. Again, calmly. He could tell she was royalty.

After a few minutes of high tension, Sans couldn't help but laugh "eh. yer right. you kinda saved my life and all."

Toriel gave a content nod. Then a disapproving look as she spotted the scissors lodged into the wall. She rolled her eyes, ripped them out and threw it out the window. A soft 'thank u' was heard. Toriel called 'you're welcome' and that was the end of that conversation. Sans blinked, staring. She caught it.

"Are you well?" she asked.

"uh…yeah." Sans said "…i…uh… was just thinking you monsters sure are strange."

She simply tilted her head "Have you never chatted with a monster before?"

Sans shook his head "nah. doesn't matter though. I mean….you're strange. you saved me for seemingly no reason." For the first time since she had picked him up, their eyes met. His gaze was dark but sharp "So what was the reason?"

Toriel stared at him, shock crossing her features. Her red eyes were wide, their colors flickering with the dance of the flame. For a moment, her mouth simply moved with no words coming out. With a bit of a swallow, she said:

"You were hurt."

Sans growled "We're in a WAR. So that's a load of crap. What are you really going to do? Torture me?"

"What!?" Toriel gasped "Why on earth would I-"

"DO Y'NEED ME TO SPELL IT OUR FOR YOU? WE'RE IN A WAR! DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW WARS WORK!?" Sans snapped.

Toriel took a deep breathe, straightening herself and folding her hands in front of her. There was storm behind the veil of calm in her eyes.

"I apologize that you are so wary. But please be assured that I have no ill intent." She explained.

Sans laughed, loudly. Panting for breathe, he cracked a sinister grin. His left eye twitched "Hilarious. Really. So, why would the monster queen save a random, half-dead human? Hm?"

She looked him dead in the eye. Red glare meeting blue. When she spoke, her voice was level. But it cracked with what would have been rage.

"Do humans really think such thoughts?"

Sans's response was caught in her throat. He managed to choke out "W…what?"

She seemed to pity him "Does your kind act in such a way that it makes you wary of kindness?"

Sans grinded his teeth. But he didn't say anything. Instead, he simply looked away and put his hand gently on his dressed wound. He croaked out a dry laugh "heh….i guess so. …sorry, princess."

She smiled kindly "What did I say?"

Sans chuckled, throwing his hands up in the air in mock defeat "okay, okay. toriel." He folded his hands in his lap "sorry."

She shook her head "No need for apologies-" She covered her mouth with one paw, her eyes widening "I just realized I do not know your name…"

Sans winked "good." His gaze darted to the side "ya shouldn't name things. then you get attatched."

Toriel opened her mouth to respond. Then she closed it, sighing softly. "Yes. I suppose you are right. We are in a war, after all."

Another silent moment.

Then.

"NURSETEM BOUGHT MORE MWWOOOOORRRPPHHHEEEENEEE!" The cat-dog returned, cheering loudly and throwing several syringes of the stuff into the air, letting them rain down like rose petals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sure hope you all like NurseTem


	3. Chapter 3

Things were going quite well until Marty had to screw everything up.

In their Base Camp, there was a large quantity of jobs to be done. Ranging from tactical (Sydna handled most of this) to medical (NurseTem worked in this field) to organizational (her and her fiancé's field) and…then there was a field lovingly referred to as 'impractical'.

The young princess saw little use to the current development of this field. However, Asgore had been swayed to allow and assist in their meddling experiments. The main duo of monsters who tinkered away in their tents all day were Doctor Wingdings Gaster, and Marty.

Gaster had been the one to persuade Asgore to allow the pursuit of his activities. He was a tall and slender monster, although rumor has it the majority of his height comes from his legs. The lights in his tar-black eyes would flare like stars when he was excited, and his dark smile would bend and stretch to reflect his current mood. He was pale-faced and limber, and could often can be seen drifting about the camp like a phantom. A very excitable phantom. One with a tendency to screech like a child upon seeing something that catches his fancy. If the doctor wasn't quirky enough already, he also had a strange tendency to move in hands in a rather particular manner when he is speaking or even when he's not. Very few monsters understood these movements, and the few that did had only a very vague grasp of what he was trying to portray.

With the exception of Marty.

Marty was Gaster's peer, although he was more commonly called an assistant. He was a stout monster, yellow in color and resembling a bi-pedal lizard of sorts. He wore a crown of scaled fringes that pointed off from his head. In front of his eyes, which were usually narrowed in either a scowl or thought, were a pair of rectangular glasses that were constantly being re-adjusted. Although the small man was considered brilliant when it came to academics, most monsters found him…well, to be nice, annoying. It was in his nature to be blunt and straight-forward, often forgetting about a little concept called 'manners' in its entirety. This led to some angry or upset monsters and Marty being completely oblivious to their distress. Yet, despite all of these negative traits, he and Gaster had proven to be quite productive as a team.

But perhaps the greatest fault of Marty was that he didn't know when to mind his own business.

This was what led him to follow the young princess to a long-abandoned shack in the woods. Now, whether it was his intent to stay hidden was unclear. As it was, he walked behind her in plain sight, his footsteps syncing perfectly in time to hide behind the noise of her louder ones. He didn't say anything, simply watching through narrowed eyes and observing the way she moved, warily looking about and unknowingly staring right over her stalker's head. Marty wasn't dumb by any means. And just by looking at his to-be matriarch, he can tell she was hiding something. And he wanted to know what it was.

So when she got to the shack, he finally spoke up.

"What's this, your Majesty?" he asked, raising one scaled brow skeptically. The princess spun on heel, staring down on him with wide and surprised eyes. She folded her hands in front of her, regaining her composure a tad too late.

"Marty. What can I help you with?" she said.

The scientist responded with a short huff. He peered around her, eyeing the door. "I'll admit to a slight curiosity of your stalking off into the woods by yourself to a mildly suspicious shack."

"I believe you might be paranoid." Toriel said curtly.

"I believe you might be full of shit." Marty responded just as curtly. He backed up a step, looking up at her and crossing his short arms over his chest.

Toriel and Marty met gazes, their glares practically creating an angry wave of emotion that swarmed between mutual disgust.

"As I had said, it is nothing of importance." Toriel said, her voice strained as she struggled to remain calm.

"First, you never did say that." Marty pointed out, his voice level and calm much to Toriel's annoyance. He eyed her "Secondly, should I see this as a potential threat, I will not hesitate to mention it to Wingdings."

Toriel couldn't stop her shoulders from rising. And from the smug smirk on Marty's face, she could tell he had noticed. She sighed in her defeat. Much to the lizard man's confusion, she knelt onto her knees to be eye-level with him.

"Marty, PLEASE, don't tell anyone about this." She all but begged. Marty blinked, tilting his head a tad and fidgeting with the alignment of his spectacles. He crossed his arms again.

"What is it, your majesty?" He threw her title at her as if it were a threat.

Toriel sighed, stumbling back onto her feet and knocked on the door. It was returned with a soft scratch, to which Toriel responded with,

"Please just open the door."

Followed by a moment of silence. Then,

"Okoi." And the door being slowly opened. NurseTem, half-hiding behind the doorframe, glared at Marty and bared her small fangs. "MORTY."

"It's Marty." He corrected curtly, stepping into the building with little thought. Toriel sighed, rubbing at her snout, and followed the scientist in. He stared at the wounded human, who gave a forced grin and attempted to slide out of sight by throwing the blanket over his head. Marty shot Toriel a glare.

"What the hell is this!?" he snapped, motioning to the patient in an angry wave. NurseTem slammed the door shut, scrambling up onto a windowsill and staring intently into the wilderness.

"A human." Toriel said. "I found him injured and-"

"AND NOTHING!" Marty snapped "That's a HUMAN! Y'know, the species we're currently AT WAR with!?"

"hey, i told her that too." The human said with a shrug.

"No one asked you!" Marty hissed.

"rude." he chuckled.

"Marty, please-" Toriel began.

"PLEASE NOTHIN'!" He snapped. He took a deep breathe, forcing his voice to quiet but failing from keeping it from hissing out of his teeth "Your Majesty, with all due respect, this is a very, very, dangerous action. I understand your heart is in the right place, but this is a very bad idea."

"your life was a very bad idea." The human said casually.

"oooOOOOOOOOHHHH!" NurseTem howled, raising her paws to frame the human. Toriel and Marty both shot the cat-dog a glare. She cowered under their gazes. The human gave her a friendly scratch behind one of her ears.

"hey, thanks buddy."

Marty huffed, glaring back at Toriel "I'm telling Wingdings."

"NOOOOOUUUUUU!" NurseTem barked "Don't Tell DOoocter Goister!"

"who?" the human asked, going ignored.

"Marty, please! He'd kill him!" Toriel said.

"GOOD! Better than having a SPY running around!" Marty hissed.

"c'mon, who's 'gaster'?"

"He's not a spy!"

"How the hell would you know!?"

"NU TELL GOISTER! NUUUU!"

"hello….?" The human mumbled "can someone tell me who 'gaster' is….?"

"SHUT UP!" The three monsters turned, snapping at him in unison. The white-haired man mumbled, slouching back into the bedding and settled for watching the three decide his fate. Yawning slightly, he threw the soft blanket around his shoulders and turned himself into a cozy little dumpling. Through half-lidded eyes he watched them argue. He felt the pressure of small paws on his shoulder and the barking of NurseTem brush against his face.

Eventually, when it became evident this argument was going to be stuck in a never-ending loop, he interrupted with:

"i say you just kill me."

Toriel and Marty both stared at him. The young princess covered her mouth with her paws, eyes brimming with tears as she struggled to find something to say. Marty stared at him like he grew an extra head. Then snapped.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN WE SHOULD KILL YOU?"

"like you said, there really ain't a reason for me to live." He shrugged "and really it just makes more sense to kill me, anyway."

This left the scientist in an elongated silence. His mouth moved, although no words came out, and he stared at Toriel, then at the human, and gave a brief glance to the now-wailing Temmie who clung on the man while crying out 'Nnnuuuuuuuuuuu'.

Marty snorted, turning his back towards the man. The tip of his tail twitched indignantly and he muttered.

"Y'know what? Fine. Keep the dumbass alive."

Toriel stared at him, shocked "Wh….Really?"

"Yeah." Marty huffed. He shot a glare to the human, then looked back to the princess "I'm not going to tell Wingdings about him." He voice dropped to a growl "But I sure hope you know what the hell you're doing."

Toriel nodded, straightening herself. A small smile was set on her face. "I believe I do. Thank you, Marty."

"Don't get used to it." He snorted.

"YAYYYAAAAA I GET TO KEEP THE HUMAHN!" NurseTem cheered, rubbing her face affectionately against the said human's.

Marty gave her a mildly annoyed glare "….So….The Nurse seems to have gotten attached."

"Seems so." Toriel said with a slight nod.

"why the sudden change in heart?" the human asked despite himself. He completely ignored the affectionate Tem on his head.

Marty growled, meeting his glare straight-on "When someone asks to DIE then that means they were never given a reason to LIVE. And that's just fucking sad."

The human laughed, giving a slight shrug "wow. you monsters sure are something else."

"Shut up." Marty hissed.

"after you." The human winked.

Toriel chuckled softly "Well, it appears the human fits right in with us monsters quite easily."

"Wut makes uze say dat, TORI?" NurseTem asked as the two men began snapping insults at eachother.

Toriel giggled "He doesn't get along with Marty."

"NO ONE gets aloing wid Maaaaoorrrttyyy." NurseTem dragged the name out through her teeth.

"Very true." Toriel nodded "Very true indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. Marty.


	4. Chapter 4

Sydna strolled through the camp, her stride long and purposeful. Her red hair, pulled back in a messy ponytail, lashed about in the wind. A teeth-baring snarl was set on her face.

"MARTY!" she snapped, angrily pushing the flaps of the tent aside.

The lizard man barely even glanced at her, his snout shoved deep into his current work. "What?"

"Tell Asgore I can go back out and fight!" She hissed, towering over the smaller monster.

Again, Marty barely even acknowledge her. "No."

"WHAT!? WHY THE HELL NOT!?" She snapped.

Marty sighed, rubbing the side of his head. He finally set down his papers to point an accusatory finger to her face. Half of which was covered by thick gauze. He spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, although annoyance dragged the sentence into a growl "You need to fully recover first. Otherwise, you'd just slow everyone down."

Sydna opened her mouth, ready to spit poison and threats when Marty interrupted again

"Why don't you go visit your family?"

Her retort caught in her throat. She sighed, leaning heavily on one hip and crossing her arms. "Yes, I guess I will." A big grin abruptly came to her "It's been SUCH a long time since I've been able to spend an evening with my daughter!" She blinked "Oh! Did I tell ya how the husband said she's doing in school?"

"About fifty times, yes." Marty muttered "Get out of my tent."

Sydna snorted, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Alright FINE. See ya 'roud, Martin."

"It's Marty. Bye." Marty waved her off. Sydna chuckled to herself, much the annoyance of the lizard man, and went along her way (after leaving word of her intentions with Grillby, of course).

Since the war started, monsters have had to stay close together. Packed in tighter than sardines in a can, but with better-smelling company. The tents and temporary settlements were arranged in a circle. The military monsters (as well as Marty and Gaster) occupied the outer edges. Near the center were the civilian monsters. Those either too young to fight, or just too… unable to.

Her husband fell into the latter category. And no one could judge him for it. Despite his large, intimidating stature, he was a very gentle man. His face, they were told, resembled the one of a fish called a 'barracuda'. He was covered head-to-toe in deep-green scales that shined when the sun hit them just right. His webbed hands were tipped with black, razor-sharp claws that he often kept filed down.

And since he wasn't a fighter, she was.

And her daughter.

Sydna grinned, knocking on the door. She rocked impatiently on her heels as she heard the small pitter-patter of her daughter's feet. The door was thrown open, and Sydna's knees were immediately assaulted. Her young daughter bared he tiny sharp teeth, digging them into the leather of her leggings.

"NGEEEEHHH!" The small monster hissed.

"OH NO, YOU GOT ME!" Sydna gasped, dramatically buckling down to the ground and laying onto his back. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"Did I really!?" The young monster grinned, yellow eyes gleaming. Sydna snorted good-naturedly, lightly shoving the girl.

"Oh give me some more credit, Undyne! I'm the leader of the Royal Guard."

"Not forever you aren't!" The girl said, grinning in her ambition "When I grow up, I'LL be the head of the guard!"

"Hopefully we won't need one by the time you're all grown up." The girl's father said, helping his wife and child up from the ground. He embraced Sydna fully, nuzzling the woman's face in the bend of his neck.

"Hi sweet-heart!" Sydna grinned, returning the embrace in the form of a vice-grip. Her husband let out a wheeze, although he chuckled.

"H-hey-" he chuckled

"Bleck!" Undyne gagged "You too are SO embarrassing!"

"Embarrassing?" Sydna repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Embarrassing?"

"Oh no." The male monster sighed. "I'll…I'll just go set the table. You two come in when you're done."

"WILL DO!" Sydna grinned, picking up Undyne and throwing the girl onto her shoulders "You wanna see embarrassing, kid!? I'll show ya embarrassing!"

"I BET I CAN EMBARRASS YOU MORE!"

"CAN NOT!"

"CAN TOO!"

Needless to say, the two of them combined managed to be incredibly embarrassing to their father/husband. Apparently running around the small village screaming 'NGEEEHHH' raises some eyebrows.

Sydna slept there that night, but in the morning left again for the outer ring. She gave her husband a quick smooch and ruffled her daughter's hair. And with their wishes of luck (and Undyne's demand for her to 'KICK SOME HUMAN BUTT'), she was determined to keep them, and her kingdom, safe. She went back to the outskirts.

Mumbling to herself, she scratched at the gauze around her eye. She hated having to keep that part of her face covered, but it needed to be healed and she needed to reserve her magic to fight, not to heal. Not to mention, it'd probably be a badass face-scar.

If the human who gave it was still alive, she'd give him a high-five and a thank you.

Then probably kill him.

'Cause, you know, he stabbed her in the face.

As the fish-warrior walked through the camp, her eyes caught on the pair of tall, white royals. She briskly walked up to them, keeping her back straight and her voice level.

"Your majesties." She said, bowing slightly at the waist.

"Oh no- No need for that, Sydna." Asgore said, beckoning her to loosen up. He smiled at her "So, how is your wound?"

"This ol' thing?" Sydna grinned, pointing to it "Well I can tell ya one thing, it's going to look BADASS when it scars over."

"Oh my." Toriel chuckled "Sydna, please try to be more careful. Please do not purposely throw yourself in situations simply to get scars."

Sydna laughed, giving a shrug "No promises, your majesty."

Asgore laughed, caught himself, and awkwardly cleared his throat "But please, in all seriousness, take care of yourself." He gave a gentle smile "I don't know what we would do without you."

"Yes sir." Sydna said with a nod.

"Well, I must go check in with Doctor Gaster." Asgore sighed "Who knows what problems he'd cause if no one keeps him in check."

"That is the reason we keep Marty around, is it not?" Toriel giggled, tilting her head a but. Asgore chuckled deeply.

"Oh, yes. I suppose. But it won't hurt to make sure." He held his fiance's claws in between his own, nuzzling his snouts to hers. "Bye bye Tori!"

"Goodbye, King Fluffybuns!" Toriel giggled, blushing alight pink. She laughed as he pulled away and exchanged a smile and wave as he walked away. But, as his line of sight excluded her, she suddenly turned downcast.

Sydna tensed upon seeing the princess distress. She took a step foreward, placing one hand on her shoulder.

"Toriel, is something wrong?" She spoke, quietly. Toriel sighed, looking after her to-be husband a moment, then glanced at the warrior.

"Sydna, would you please help me with something….personal?"

Sydna nodded immediately "Of course. Anything for you, Toriel."

She smiled "Thank you. I truly appreciate it." The monster princess laid a paw over the warrior's claw, giving it a light squeeze. "I am ashamed to ask, but…may you please keep this a secret, from the King?"

Again, Sydna nodded immediately.

Toriel smiled at her, beckoned, and led her off into the woods. They walked in silence, Sydna keeping her senses open, making sure she was aware of any potential ambushes and any attacks. The wound on her cheek burned, reminding her of the deftness of the human who's ability to sneak was underestimated. It just went to remind her to always be cautious.

Following the princess, she was lead to a small, run-down shack. It was well hidden in vines and foliage, sheltering it from a casual glance. Toriel knocked on the door. There was a response of scratches. And then again, knocks. Then scratches. Then the door opened.

"Hoi!" Sydna was surprised to see Nurse Tem. She blinked, the Tem blinked. The Tem screeched. "TOOOORRRIIiIIIIIIIII!" She vibrated rapidly, arming herself with a pair of safety scissors.

"No, no Nurse. It's all right." Toriel said, fanning the feisty feline(dog) down. "I asked her to come here."

The Nurse gave them each a skeptical look. "rly?"

"Yes." Toriel nodded. She turned to Sydna "Please, come in. I am ashamed to say I must ask for your help in keeping him safe."

"Keeping WHO safe?" Sydna asked, following the princess as she walked into the room. NurseTem's lips parted into a warning growl. And while the Tem wasn't the best at fighting, Sydna knew from first-hand experience the little cat-dog can whip up a poison that put you out of commission for a week straight. So she'd take the warning to heart.

"Him." Toriel answered, motioning to a sleeping figure. She fidgeted slightly "A…a human I found in the woods. He was wounded and very close to dead, so I-"

Sydna stopped her with a slight raise of her hand. She gave the princess a smile "You're too kind for this world, Toriel. Of course I'll help you protect the fleshbag."

Toriel paused a moment before smiling gratefully "Thank you, Sydna."

"Of course." Sydna grinned back. She tilted her head, scanning her new charge intently. She might as well. There was no way anyone was going to order her back to battle anytime soon, not when her bandages hindered her sight and hearing.

And her loyalties lied with the princess, first and foremost.

"hhmmm…" The human groaned, stirring from his slumber.

"Oh." Toriel chirped "Well, I suppose now would be a good time to introduce the two of you. Excuse, Mr. Human?"

"mmf?" The human yawned, rubbing at his eyes. He gave a light stretch, as much as his bandaged torso would allow, anyway. Sydna's jaw dropped as she stared. "oh…heya, princess-" his eyes caught on the fish warrior. He seemed to pale considerably, scrambling back wildly.

The Nurse leapt onto the bed instantly, putting herself between the human and Sydna.

Toriel squeaked, covering her mouth with her paws "W-what's wrong!?"

"SHE FOUND ME!" "HEY, IT'S YOU!" The human and Sydna screamed at the same time, pointing to each other (in a rather comedic manner).

Toriel looked between them, then bowed her head in a sigh.

"Oh my."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Look it's Sydna. I guess I should clarify some things while I'm here.   
> Sydna is Undyne's mother.  
> Marty is (going to be) ALphys's father.


	5. Chapter 5

"Perhaps this was a mistake…." Toriel mused to herself.

Sans pressed himself against the wall, now not quite sure what his situation was. The monster that had killed him was in front of him and clearly angry. The small cat-dog, the Nurse, was in between him and her and looked about ready to spring into action. Although he appreciated the sentiment, he was fairly certain the fish-lady could just stomp her into nothing.

Sydna was injured, he could see that much. Bandages were fixed around half her face, and her one lone eye glared though its scar and onto him. With a flex of her claws she materialized a spear. Sans gritted his teeth against the pain and prepared himself to leap-

"Sydna, please calm yourself. You as well, Mr. Human." Toriel said coolly. The warrior responded, but hesitantly. Sydna dismissed her magic, although she didn't relax. Her lone eye locked onto him. Sans readily let his body rest. He massaged his injured side with his fingers, avoiding the gazes of the two taller women in the room. NurseTem sprung onto the bed next to him, venturing a concerned sniff to his wound.

"Need mworephine?" she asked. Sans forced a grin and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm fine." He said.

"Now….how might you two know one another?" Toriel asked, a light pink on her cheeks. Her voice was level, but way she evaded her eyes implied shame or embarrassment.

"He stabbed me in the face." Sydna reported bluntly. Toriel let out a slight gasp-

"She stabbed my body." Sans shrugged, motioning to his bandages.

Toriel was now covering her mouth with her paws, mortified "Oh my goodness-"

"Eh. Whatever." Sydna shrugged, interrupting Toriel's sentence. She hooked her arm around the woman's shoulders, drawing her in close so their sides touched "It's in the past. I stopped caring." She grinned, baring her long, sharp fangs. Toriel opened her mouth to respond, but Synda quickly interjected "Besides, it's not like I didn't get my PAYBACK, am I right?" She shot Sans a quick look. He shrugged as much as he was able to.

"Yeah, I mean, I almost died. So. Fair's fair." He said, casting a quick look to the princess. She seemed concerned still, looking between the two wounded people in front of her. Sydna's grin was too tight, Sans was breaking out in goosebumps, and Toriel was fighting to find words. Nurse Tem decided to intervene.

"R u TWOs teeming up to make TORI feel better?" She asked. The small cat-dog bounced up and down, tail wagging happily "O! O! NurseTem helps! Tori is SOOPER kewl! A+ kewlness! YayA!"

Sans and Synda stared a moment, then Sydna spontaneously struck a pose, flexing her muscular arms for all present to admire.

"YEAH!" She yelled "TORIEL GETS AN A + ! MAXIMUM COOLNESS!"

"YAYA!"

"YEAAAH!"

"YAAAAYAAAA!"

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"YYAAAAAAYYYYyyyyyyAAAAaaaAAAA!"

Sans blinked, watching as the Nurse vibrated her way onto Sydna's head, bouncing happily as the two had their exchange. Toriel slipped past them to Sans's side, frowning down at him.

"Well," she said as her friends continued screaming at each other "I understand Sydna's feelings well enough about the situation, but what are yours? Truly?"

Sans shrugged again "Eh. She's better than Marty."

Toriel giggled a moment, stifling her laughter with a deep breathe. "Yes, but then again, everyone is better than Marty."

"Marty?" Sydna interjected, putting a hand on her hip. She would've been intimidating if she didn't have an overly-happy tem on her head.

Toriel nodded "Yes, Marty knows about the human as well."

"Woah, you told MARTY before ME?" Sydna asked, a frown creasing her face. Toriel sighed.

"He left me little choice, sneaking along after me and all of that." She explained.

"Oh." Sydna bared her teeth "D'ya want me to skin him?"

"YayA!" The Nurse was all for this.

"No." Toriel said. "Marty knows about this, and he had made himself clear he would not reveal his whereabouts-" She cut herself off, frowning. A very short pause, but long enough for a perceptive human to notice. Sans shrugged internally. So he might hafta slit a few throats. He'll admit, he didn't WANT to, oddly, but he'd do what he'd have to do-

"Has the human tried to attack you, Toriel?" Sydna frowned.

"Not at all." Toriel said.

"He NU hurt NurseTem either!" The Nurse grinned, hopping onto Sans's head and rubbing her face against his hair "He MOI hooman! Moine!"

Sydna grinned "See? No way I can want to stab him NOW. He belongs to the Nurse!"

"I don't really agree with that." Sans muttered.

"U-U DONTZ?" The Nurse whimpered, clearly distressed. She flopped over his head "But NuseTem LUVS UZE!"

"This is really weird." Sans muttered.

"WELL GET USED TO US, PUNK!" Synda roared, trapping Sans in a headlock. He instantly went to duck out of it, aiming to put as much distance between them as he could. Sydna backed off physically. "'CAUSE UNTIL YOU GET BETTER ENOUGH TO GO BE HORRIBLE, YOU GOTTA TOLERATE US!"

"Hooray for me…" Sans sighed.

"So what's your name?" Sydna asked.

The human shrugged with a wink "'Hooman'."

"YayA! NurseTem Name-ded him! He HooMAN!"

"Yaaaaaayyy." Sans cheered weakly.

Toriel frowned "Um….Pardon the interruption, but, Nurse, you DO know he's not your…pet, right?"

"Well DOI!" NurseTem rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my apologies-"

"HE'S URS!"

"P-Pardon!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAGH! I keep posting the CHAPTER in the SUMMARY section! THis site's a tad hard to navigate....


	6. Chapter 6

Tap tap ttap tap

…

Tap tap tap tap

…

Tap tap tap tap

"Okay, sit the FUCK down!" Marty snapped, turning sharply to glare at his partner.

"Wha? Oh, sorry Marty." Wingdings Gaster said, the corners of his dark mouth twisting downwards. With long, slow strides, he drifted over to the desk Marty was working at and dropped onto the vacant chair next to him. He peered over the lizard man's shoulder. "What are you working on?"

Marty sighed "Checking up on the war effort." He pinched the bridge of his classes, resetting them straight on his face "With Sydna out of the main fight, we're floundering out there."

"Then put her back INTO the fight." Gaster sighed "It's not that hard."

Marty shook his head "We might have to soon, but we can't throw her back in right now. She's in no condition to fight."

"Why? She got stabbed in the face, big deal." Gaster shrugged, He smiled broadly, pointing to a crevice in his face that snaked down from his eye "I got stabbed in the face and I'm fine!"

"First: you're not normal." Marty said, rolling his eyes "Secondly: Sydna has flesh. Third: You don't FIGHT."

Gaster shrugged, crossing his arms "Valid point." He sighed, slouching a bit in his chair and drumming his fingers against his upper arms.

Marty sighed "What?"

"What what?" Gaster asked vancantly.

Marty shot him a glare "You're never this quiet unless something's up. So, what's up?"

Gaster slouched more "I…I honestly don't know." If he had lips, he would've pursed them "Something's wrong, though." His fingers curled into the sleeves of his black coat. His leg began to shake "Something's giving me goosebumps…"

"You don't have skin." Marty pointed out.

"Metaphorically, Martin!" Gaster scowled.

"It's Marty." The lizard monster murmured.

Gaster got up suddenly, almost upturning the table. Marty slammed his arms down on the desk, steadying it out again. He shot Gaster a glare that went unnoticed.

The taller monster began to pace again. "Something's up." His face scrunched up, wrinkling slightly "Something is up, something is up…." He stopped suddenly, scowling deeply.

"….Wingdings?" Marty blinked, frowning. When Gaster didn't respond, Marty clambered down from his seat and shuffled over. "Wingdings, say somethin', you're freaking me out."

Still no response. Marty circled around him, looking up at the taller monster's crinkled face. He still didn't offer a response. Marty propped himself up onto his tiptoes, leaning foreward to study the man's face. He waved a clawed hand in front of his face.

"ACHOO!" Gaster sneezed, startling the lizard man and toppling him over so he hit the ground with a harsh thump!

"Sorry, Marty!" Gaster yelped, helping the man up. Marty swatted him away, scowling. Gaster chuckled, scratching the side of his face "Heh heh….you okay…?"

"YES." Marty snorted "Let's get back on topic here, what's bugging you?"

"Right now? The fact that my sneeze scared you."

"Hilarious." Mart mumbled, scrunching up his snout "Wingdings, what is it?"

Gaster sighed "I already TOLD you, I don't know! Something's…..something's weird. Different? No, no…." He began to pace again. He absent-mindedly scratched his fingers along the contours of his upper arms, digging into the cloth and bone alike. Marty settled back onto his chair, watching the tall monster patrol. The tip of his tail twitched.

"Windings-"

He was hushed as the doctor held up his hand "It's all right Marty. I'm probably just….forgetting something." He murmured, eyes focused on something distant. Marty studied him a moment. Then sighed.

"Okay, Wingdings."

"….what." The lizard man muttered.

Marty, more due to curiosity than anything else, slipped away once again to see the Queen's human patient. The man was stout, he realized. Shorter than most human males, but just as broad in the shoulders. His skin was dark, but his hair was white. From what he knew of humans, that wasn't normal. Perhaps if he were an older human, it would have been. But that wasn't it. He was young.

But not THAT damn young.

The human shrugged, cringing as his body pulled against the bandages.

"I never learned how t'read. Big whoop."

The corner of Marty's eye twitched. The Nurse's ears were down. Sydna scowled.

"You…don't know how to read?" Marty asked, his voice level.

The human frowned "I…er…I just said that."

Marty pushed the human to the side of the bed, clambering up along side him and opening a large book. "Lesson time then. Sit down and shut up."

"Woah-what?" He stared. "Er…y-y'don't gotta teach me there, Marty. I don't really need to read or anythin'"

"I said shut up." Marty murmured. He shoved the book closer to the human "You can't know absolutely nothing, right? Do you at least know letters?"

"Er….some of them?" He said, sweat slicking down the side of his face while a faint blush crept across his cheeks.

"Point them out. The ones you know." The lizard man said. The human did, stuttering a bit and not quite getting them all right. Marty snorted, unimpressed. "Okay, we go a LOT of work to do."

"B-but-" The human fought to find words to protest.

"Woah, Martin!" Sydna interjected.

"What?" he snapped.

"You can't start teaching someone to read with a book like THAT!"' She snapped back "That's like, PHD level crap!"

"I know that." Marty mumbled "But I don't have any other reading materials he could use. At least not without drawing suspicion."

"How about we just DON'T teach me to read?" The human suggested meekly "Like, I dunno how it works for monsters, but for humans, readin' for the rich."

"Listen," Marty said "There's a lot of things I have to deal with. Stupidity that can be avoided is not one of them."

"Uh…"

"Dat his way of sayin' he theenk uze not as smert as u could be!" The Nurse translated, vibrating gently from where she was perched on Sydna's head.

"What?"

"Well, you're not DUMB." Sydna grinned "I can tellya that from experience! It takes more than just damn luck to get a hit on me!"

Marty straightened his glasses. "So shut up and let's get reading-"

"Woah, wait!" Sydna interrupted again "Lemme grab some of mu daughter's book, alright? Those are better for people just staring out with the whole 'literacy'' thing."

"Okay." Marty nodded "Get some pecils and paper too, would you? Maybe something about arithmetic…"

"Damn, sounds like you're planning on schoolin' me." The human sighed.

"That is exactly what I am planning." The lizard man said bluntly "You're not going to be a dumbass if there's something I can do about it."

The human's head and shoulders dropped in defeat.

"And NurseTem teech uze 'bout BOI-ology!" The Tem vibrated happily at the thought.

Marty nodded "Well, you are a doctor, so that'd make sense-"

"WOAH!" Sydna interrupted "The NURSE is a DOCTOR?"

"Yaya." The Nurse said with a slight tilt of her head.

"Then why are you NURSE Tem?" Sydna demanded.

"Nurse Sounds COOOTEERRRR!" The Tem answered excitedly, vibrating quickly enough to produce electricity if some sort of machine were to be hooked up to her.

"…Right." Sydna snorted.

"….So, anyway" Marty continued as if nothing strange had happened "Her majesty could probably teach you about social sciences, if she could find the time."

"Y'mean Toriel?" The human said.

Marty nodded "Right. And Sydna …." He thought a moment "Anyway-"

"WOAH, what can I teach him?" Sydna demanded.

"Most likely nothing." Marty said bluntly.

"Dude, FIGHT ME!"

"I don't think I will."

"FUCK YOU, MARTY!"

"My, what would Ifrit think if he hear that?"

"LEAVE MY HUBBY OUT OF THIS!"

They continued their spat, oblivious to the other conversation taking place.

"So…." The human murmured "Did someone tell him that Sydna knew…?"

"Nope!" The Nurse chirped "Morty pwobably just assoomed!"

"…Ok.." The human sighed. He wrung his fingers through his hair. His blue gaze distant as a light smile crept across his face "Well…learnin' a thing or two could be fun…."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Marty. Why do you do things.


	7. Chapter 7

He took back everything he said about learning being fun.

Sans groaned, rubbing the palm of his hand against his forehead. His eyes squinted, he struggled to focus on the letters swimming before him. Not that reading was too difficult, in fact he felt quite confident in his newfound abilities, but it was the sheer quantity of work that got to him.

Marty hadn't wasted any time drowning the white-haired man in homework. Sydna was annoyingly supportive of all the work, claiming since he 'could'nt work his body, he might as well work his mind'. The Nurse offered support in the form of tutoring and excessive purring.

Sans sighed, shoving his studying materials off his bed and onto his floor. Then he flopped onto his bed, palms stretched outwards, facing the ceiling.

At the moment, he was alone. It would be easy to slip away, to sneak off and die somewhere. Toriel was doing her queenly-to-be duties, Sydna in the middle of some war meeting, the Nurse called off to her own chores, and Marty to…

"What the hell does Marty even do?" Sans muttered to the ceiling. All he had to go off of Marty's occupation is the fact he's ridiculously smart and knows a doctor named 'Gaster'.

Something snapped outside with a sickening CRUECK!

Sans yawned. He rubbed his eyes lazily with one hand.

The knob of the door began to twist and turn, unsure. Sans blinked. A frown creased his face as he pushed himself to sit up.

"Nurse?" He asked, feeling his skin crawl. The knob shaking stopped. Sans swallowed nervously, quietly getting to his bare feet and creeping to the door. Goosebumps broke on his skin, the hair on the back of his neck stood on edge.

The knob began to shake violently, the person on the other side of the door rattling it in the process, as if with the intent of breaking it off its hinges. Sans's breath caught in his throat as he stumbled backwards. His chest began to ache, contracting in on itself as if being ensnared in a rope. Whoever was here started pounding on the door, almost madly. Shaking and shaking, rumbling the house.

Sans threw out his hands, his fear pouring out of his palms and his fingertips and flooding the room. It shot outwards, crawling on the surface of wood and crashing down the door and walls. The force of the pulse threw Sans backwards and he smacked into the wall harshly. As his body slid down, he found himself held in the air. By a pair of disembodied hands.

He let out a sharp cry, pulling against the ghostly restraints. His insides churned as his head spun and everything grew dark, darker, yet darker…

The human's eyes widened as they locked on his visitor.

A tall…thing. A pale mask with holes for eyes and tar for a body. Two hands gripped either side of the door, and its body was lugged slowly inside, it's gelatinous form sloshing through the open doorway.

It smiled.

Sans screamed.

"WAKE UP YOU ASSHOLE!"

The human's eyes snapped open to a lizardy scowl. Marty had him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him up to be eye level. His teeth were bared and one eye twitched a bit too frequently.

"Uh…hey Marty." Sans chuckled, partly due to his awkwardness but mainly due to trying to regain lost breath. His throat felt like needles had been stuck into it….

He must've been screaming.

Marty sighed, dropping the human and leaving him be. The lizard set himself to picking up the scattered books and papers along the cabin floor. Sans rubbed at his eyes, then rolled his shoulders. Stretching his neck, he was rewarded with a soft crick! And with that, and the stiffness in his body, he came to the conclusion he must've fallen asleep.

"You should really be quieter." Marty muttered, snorting as he stumbled off the ground, his arms full. Sans slid off the bed and took some of the load from him. Marty rose an eyebrow at him but snorted his thanks. The two put the materials onto a table that Sydna had brought in earlier. Marty didn't let the subject drop, however. "So, I take it that was a nightmare?"

Sans sighed "Listen, I don't want to talk 'bout it-"

"You don't want to talk A-bout it." Marty corrected. He crossed his arms over his chest "Listen, human, I mean it when I say you need to be QUIET. If you're too loud, you could attract…." He hesitated a moment "…unwanted attention."

Sans sighed "Right, I know. But….well, I can't help it if I scream while I'm sleepin'."

"There's ways to fix that." Marty said "Hypnosis, meditation, whichever you're comfortable with." He shot a pointed glare "Or you could just die."

"Let's avoid that one." Sans said with a bitter smile.

"Right." Marty said "Well then….Suppose I should start teaching you some meditating techniques…."

"Yeah, I gotta question 'bout- er… about that." Sans said. Marty tilted his head, motioning for him to continue. Sans scratched his cheek "Er… what's meditation?"

Marty's tail twitched. He sighed.

"Oh boy."


	8. Chapter 8

Marty groaned, folding his arms over his head.

"I just can't get a break from these morons, can I?" he mumbled.

"Did you say something, Marty?" Gaster asked, looking over his shoulder. Half of the man's face was plastered in soot, the result of a small explosion (which was the result of one of his experiments).

"Yes." Marty sighed "I said, in short, there's no escape from idiots."

"You offend me." Gaster said, bowing slightly with a hand over where his heart would be if he had one. A few steps and he was by Marty's side, leaning on him heavily as he pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. "Implying I am an idiot! Agh! My heart, my self-esteem…" he began to slide down Marty's side, putting his weight on the lizard man's head "they are shattered. Broken! Alas, my heart, my heart- ACK!" He yelped as Marty suddenly threw his head back, knocking him off and over.

The lizard man turned to give the scientist a smug smirk as he laid on the floor. Gaster grinned, almost mischievously "Now, now MARTIN."

Marty's expression dropped back to its usual scowl "It's Marty."

Gaster slivered back onto his feet, propping his skull up on his arms and propping his arms up on Marty's head. "Okay, Martin."

Marty snorted "Okay, Wingdings."

Gaster's smile dropped into a pout "What, that's it?"

"You're just calling me that to make me mad. I'm not going to indulge your humor." Marty explained curtly, returning to scratching his pen along paper.

"But, MAAAAARRRTTTTYYYYYY!" Gaster whined, dropping his arms over Marty's face "It's more fun when you REACT."

"Good thing I don't react then."

"MAAARRTTTTTTYYYYYY!" Gaster moaned again, turning his body over so his back was on Marty's head.

Marty's sort caught in his throat, diving into a low chuckle "Wingdings, I'm WORKING."

"On what?" Gaster blinked, flipping back over and peering at the pages. His face scrunched up "Still looking over the war front?"

Marty nodded with a sigh "Yeah."

Gaster snorted "Marty, we're SCIENTISTS, not tacticians. Let the Guard handle this."

"Our research would be pointless if we all end up dead." Marty pointed out. He eyed the smoldering remains of his partner's project "What were you working on?"

"Don't really know." Gaster said with a shrug "I think…" he frowned "Well, I lied." He stepped back, beginning to turn and pace, turn and pace "I was trying something out, with magic."

"Elaborate." Marty said, crossing his arms.

"Well," Gaster began "As you know, I've been bothered by something I couldn't quite figure out for quite some time. But the other day, I felt something very, very, interesting. Something like…a wave." He flicked his fingers outward to emphasize. Marty rose an eyebrow, not impressed. Gaster pouted, cleared his throat, and then continued "A wave of MAGIC. BLUE magic."

Marty blinked, eyes widening "BLUE magic? Are you-" He frowned "Are you sure?"

Gaster nodded "DEFINITELY. No bones about it, that was blue magic."

"Okay, okay…" Marty interjected, waving him down "Firstly, that joke was horrible."

"Thanks." Gaster grinned.

"Secondly," Marty said, ignoring him "are you sure it was BLUE magic? That kind of magic is almost unheard of in monsters."

"EXACTLY!" Gaster yelled, throwing his arms up in the air "Which is why I think that either there's a non-monster with blue magic around here, or…." He thought "Someone else like me."

Marty frowned "Wingdings-"

"I know, I know." Gaster sighed "It's a ludicrous idea. Who else would be able to manage such a feat?"

"A bit conceited, but true." Marty muttered.

Gaster nodded his head, accompanied by a short series of 'mmhmm's. He sat on the arm of Marty's chair, setting his chin on his balled fists "The point of my little explosive experiment there was to see if I could somehow track this other blue-user. I used some of mine as a reference, and then attempted to calibrate the coordinates to center on the strongest source of blue magic. Other than me, anyway." He sighed.

Marty forced a smile, giving him a quick pat on his hand "Do you really need to find another blue-magic-user?"

Gaster shrugged "No, I suppose not." He stared at his hand a moment before curling in his fingers "But I feel….drawn, Marty. Like I'm supposed to seek this out."

Marty snorted "Like, fate?" he sounded skeptical.

Gaster snorted too "No, like, I'm getting real fidgety here and I gotta make sure-"

"Got-to make sure." Marty corrected. Gaster waved him off.

"I feel obliged to see this other user of blue magic. Like it's…. something I gotta- got to, find."

Marty sighed, massaging the spot between his eyes "I don't get it, Wingdings. But okay, I hope you find what you're looking for."

Gaster smiled, his shoulders dropping as he relaxed "Thanks, Marty."

Marty shrugged.

"MARTY!" a feminine voice howled, throwing aside either of the tent's flaps and storming inside.

Marty sighed. Gaster waved.

"HI, SYDNA!" He greeted.

"Hey Gaster." She muttered back. The warrior strolled over to Marty, leaning on the desk while glowering down at the rather unimpressed male. "Marty, quick question, how's the frontlines going?"

"Horribly." Marty answered bluntly, moving aside to show her the charts he had made. "We're being pushed back way too far for my liking."

Sydna snorted, glaring at the charts as if she could change them by glaring them down. "How long until I can go back out?"

Gaster shrugged "Technically, right now."

Marty shot him a glare, then addressed Sydna "It's not smart-"

"But I CAN go now, right?" She persisted.

Marty sighed "Yes, you can, but-"

"I'm going, then." She said bluntly, her decision made.

"Great." Gaster chirped, folding his arms behind his back "Marty's been rather preoccupied with this. With you back out there, he can get to stuff we actually care about."

"It's a very STUPID idea." Marty snapped "Sydna, if you DIE out there, we'll lose for sure."

"We're losing right NOW!" Sydna snapped, turning on heel to tower over the man.

"But we still have the chance to win." Marty muttered "Sydna, you're the best fighter we've got. You're strong, and have half a brain to make some damn logical decisions." He frowned "…Think of your daughter."

Sydna opened her mouth to argue, then closed it, then evaded her gaze. "….Okay. A little bit longer."

Marty nodded "That'd be smart."

Him and Gaster watched her leaved, her shoulders hunched and her stride losing a bit of its usual confidence. Gaster, standing straight up with his arms folded, frowned

"….Marty…" Gaster said.

Marty sighed "Just a little bit long, Wingdings. Then I'll stop monitoring what's going on out there and…then I guess I'll help you with your thing."

Gaster put a hand on his shoulder "That's all good for then. For now, let me help you with these charts."

Marty rolled his eyes "As if you have the attention span for that. Thank you, though."

"Er….You're welcome."

"Hello, my friend!"

Sans blinked, looking up from his work to the new arrival.

"HOI, Tori!" The Nurse purred, hopping over to her. Toriel smiled, kneeling down to the ground to scoop up the Tem. They shared a hug before Toriel placed the Nurse back to the ground, and she strode over to Sans.

"Hello, Mr. Human. How are you feeling today?" She asked.

Sans chuckled, shooting her a wink "Yeesh, it sounds like you're excited for me to leave."

She tilted her head "Well I do hope for a speedy recovery." She pressed a hand to the side of her face "And I do so apologize I have not had the chance to come and see you. Things have been quite hectic…"

Sans's grin tightened up a bit "Er, yeh, it's okoi."

The Nurse jumped up, staring at the human with wide, wide, bulging out of her head, eyes. "….'okoi'?"

Sans nodded "Okoi."

The Nurse began to vibrate angrily "Dat MOI word!"

Sans blinked, sweat beginning to slick down his face "Er….kay."

"Okoi." Toriel chuckled.

The Tem glared at her. Toriel chuckled, ignoring the angrily shaking Tem and addressing Sans.

"So, Mr. Human, Sydna tells me Marty has been giving you lessons?" she asked.

"Yep." Sans said with a nod "Was workin' on homework when you showed up."

"I see." Toriel smiled "Might I assist you?"

"Er…." Sans chewed on his cheek a moment "'Assist' means 'help', right?"

Toriel nodded "Right."

"Left." Sans winked. Toriel giggled. The Nurse rolled her eyes and went back to…whatever she was doing. Something similar to dancing, he guessed. Sans shrugged "But yeah, I wouldn't mind a bit of help here."

"Oh! Then allow me!" Toriel smiled, settling down on the bed next to him "So, what is troubling you?"

Sans pointed out his questions, Toriel answered. The Nurse continued to ….rave, or something. With several bad puns and clever jokes thrown in, as well as wild laughing fits, time flew by. The day slid along, and before they knew it, dusk had arrived.

"Oh my!" Toriel gasped when she realized. She got to her feet, dusting off her skirts "My apologies, Mr. Human, I did not realize how long it had been. Nurse, why did you not tell me?"

The Tem replied by yawning, stretching out her paws. Apparently she had fallen asleep. Toriel snorted. "Well, come along then, Nurse. You are probably missed as well."

"Yaya." The Tem agreed sleepily, hopping onto the princess's shoulder. "OIN-ward!"

"Bu-bye." Sans waved, smiling. His chest was beginning to feel tight again. He watched them leave, locked the door, and curled underneath the blanket he was provided with.

He yawned, closing his eyes with every intention to sleep. But none came to him. He'd doze off, slipping in between consciousness and slumber, but never quite settling. Whenever he'd approach sleep, he'd get jerked right back to the waking world. Panting, breathing hard.

Eventually, Sans gave up all together.

He kicked his blankets off and slid off the bed and onto the ground and began to read one of the books Sydna had brought him. A children's book, that much was obvious. From the brightly colored pages to the simple morals and the all-too-friendly writing choices. But it was the only thing he could read without help.

Sans eyed another book Sydna had brought from her home, one that apparently her husband liked to read in his free time. 'Aero and His Space Adventures', it was called. The book was aged, but not old. And flipping through the pages one could find evidence of it being well used. There were small tears here and there from where claws would pierce the paper.

Sans tossed the kid's book over his shoulder and flipped open the parchment-scented novel. Its older musty scent wafted its way to his nose, and the covers of the book fits comfortably in his hands. He settled back and began to read. Here and there, Sans would have to sound the word out to himself, and re-read the line to try and figure out what it meant. Some words he wrote down in his shaky hand on scrap paper, to ask Marty or Toriel or someone later.

There were lots of parts he didn't get, but he understood the concept. A man named 'Aero' would board a spaceship, travelling through the stars to meet other people on other planets, zipping past solar systems and galaxies and fighting villains.

Sans grinned as he read about Aero meeting the Princess of Stars, a kind woman who had pulled him back from the brink of death. Andit was this introduction that influenced what Sans imagined her to look like.

A tall woman, with long fluffy ears and a dress made of moonlight.


	9. Chapter 9

"What the hell am I looking at?" Marty muttered, standing in the doorway. Sans was sleeping on the floor, the book he was reading making a tent over his slumbering face. Several stray papers and a pencil or two littered the floor around his limp body.

Marty rolled his eyes, striding forward and beginning to gather up the papers. But, as he briefly read some of the words written down so messily, he was pleasantly surprised.

Words to ask about:

-"Thermodynamic"

-"Equilibrium."

-"Odyssey"

-"Diplomacy"

…and several others like it. Marty couldn't keep small, bemused snort from escaping him. On his hands and knees, he circle around the human to read the title of the book he was so invested in.

"…'Aero and his Space Adventures." Marty mused out loud. He sat back on his tail, taking the time to scribble some of the definitions to the words the human apparently didn't know. Afterwards, he smacked his tail down on the human's face.

"GAH!" He woke with a start, lurching upwards and throwing the book a good distance away. Upon seeing Marty (and his rather smug smirk), he relaxed. Then yawned, rubbing at his eyes sleepily "G'mornin', Marty."

"Good Morning." Marty corrected. He handed the papers back to him. Sans took them, blinking as he eyes flicked over them. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he nodded along to himself, whispering some of the definitions out loud.

As he read, Marty set himself to closing the shack up, busying his hands and his mind. The concerns of Wingdings still lay heavily on his mind. The man was brilliant, although sometimes dense, so Marty found it difficult to disagree with him when he was so thoroughly convinced of something. But someone else with blue-magic….it was hard to believe.

After all, the first documented use of blue magic came from the Doctor himself.

"Somethin' up, teach'?" The human asked him. Marty sighed, tail twitching indignantly.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself over." He muttered.

"…If ya say so." The human said after a moment.

"If you say so." Marty corrected. The human snorted, then bellowed out into laughter.

"If ya' say so, Marty!" he chuckled. Marty smacked him with his tail again.

"Well, now for today's lesson…." Marty muttered, dragging him back to the floor. The human sighed.

"I didn' even eat yet." He whined.

"You're lucky we feed you at all. Shut up." Marty said curtly. Sans rolled his eyes and sat with his ankles crossed next to Marty on the floor. As the lizard man began to lecture, the human's eyes began to slowly shut. Once or twice he'd shake himself awake, but that never last long before he dipped once again into an uneasy doze.

In his dream, the hands were back. Reaching for him, fingers outstretched and holed palms apparent. He tried to run, tried to move, but he couldn't. He was frozen stiff, helpless as those hands crept closer and closer. One finger reached out, stroking down the bridge of his nose and sending a shiver down his spine. Then came the voice.

"There you are!" it chirped happily.

Sans flinched away from the voice, straining against invisible restraints. He twisted his next, trying to pull his head away from the speaker. When suddenly, sharp thorns hit him on either side of his face. His yowled out, and-

"WAKE UP YOU ASSHOLE!" Marty snapped, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring.

Sans blinked the sleep from his eyes, then granted the lizard man an uneasy chuckle "Er….Good morning?"

Marty sighed, rolling his eyes "I take it you didn't sleep well?"

"Well, no." Sans muttered, crossing his arms over his chest "You just woke me up."

"I meant last night!" Marty snapped at him, tail twitching.

"Oh. No." Sans said with a shake of his head.

Marty rolled his eyes again "Great, so getting you to pay attention today is going to be a hassle-"

Knock knock!

Marty eyed the door, motioning to Sans to be quiet. Unlike most requests of his, Sans obliged. The lizard man slowly got to his feet and tip-toed over to the door. Holding his breathe, he slowly peered through the keyhole.

Then he snorted, going back flat-foot and opened the door with a jerk.

"Oh- Hello, Marty." Toriel said. She slipped into the shack, gingerly shutting the door behind her. "Were you in the middle of a lesson?"

"I was in the middle of waking up your human from a nap." Marty snorted. Toriel giggled a moment, then cleared her throat. She turned her attention to Sans.

"…Did you sleep well?" She inquired "Or doze this shack make it difficult to?"

Sans choked on his laughter, slapping his hands over his mouth and giggling profusely. The Princess joined in, laughing so her shoulders and her long ears bounced along with her giggles. Marty snorted, glaring at both of them in turn.

"WELL" he interrupted "If you would be so kind, your majesty, I was in the middle of attempting to teach him."

"Yeah, Princess" Sans winked "And I was in the middle of takin' a doze."

"Oh my…." Toriel laughed gently, covering her mouth with one paw "I could certainly use a….doze-en of those right now."

Luckily, the word 'dozen' was one that Sans DID know. He laughed at the joke, wiping at the tears that sprang from one eye. He grinned up at her.

"Wow, Princess, your jokes are making great SLEEPs and bounds." He retaliated. The to-be queen chortled, trying to hide underneath her ears.

"Might I say-" She started.

"No you may not." Marty interrupted with a snort. The two pun enthusiasts shared a sigh of defeat as the lizard man crossed his arms, tapping one foot impatiently. "Your Majesty" he continued "what the hell are you doing here?"

"Eloquent, Marty." Toriel muttered, disdain dripping from her voice like tar on a stick. She cleared her throat, lifting her voice a tad "I came along to check on the Human." She tilted her head and looked down on the much smaller monster "I will be honest, I expected the Nurse to be here…"

Marty sighed "No, she was needed at the infirmary today."

"Goodness!" Toriel gasped "Who was harmed-"

"No one new." Marty said "And no one from the actual fight. Sydna was just giving the nurses trouble again."

"Was she?" Toriel sighed, pressing a paw to the side of her face "I must speak with her about her manners…."

"Yes, and while I have you-"

The two began to ramble off with their War-Talk. Sans, now freed from the cruel prison of Marty's lecture, clambered on top of the bed and dropped into it. He closed his eyes, letting the white noise of their voices wash over him.

He didn't care about the War.

He didn't even want to be in the War.

"Don't you want to do something important, Sans?" the memory of that young voice asked.

"Not really, no." he had replied then.

A sigh "Well….Okay, Sans. I'll let you stay where you are. I'M going to go FIGHT."

"W-woah, Phyllis, Pal, y'sure? Wars ain't no cake walk….."

"How would you know!?" he had snapped, glowering down on him. It was then that Sans had truly realized how much bigger the fair-haired boy was. "You don't do ANYTHING!"

"P-phyllis, pal, I-"

"I'm GOING, Sans!"

And he went.

Sans grimaced, trying to push the memory out of his head. He curled on his side, trying to lose himself in the sounds of the monsters' voices. But that encounter with Phyllis rung like a gong inside his head, vibrating and going through each crook and cranny of his brain like a river.

The paycheck was only an excuse to follow.

"Mr. Human?" Asked Toriel, leaning over him. Sans jumped a tad bit, looking up at her over his shoulder. A quick sniff and his eager nose picked up the scent of bread and cinnamon. He lurched upwards, trying not to drool and failing miserably. Toriel chuckled, offering him a generous bun drenched in cinnamon and frosting. "I take it you are hungry?" She asked, smiling as she watched the white-haired man shovel the food down his gullet as if he were a starved wolf. He grinned at her, mouth full and bits of the bread shoving through his teeth.

"A widdle bit, yeh." He said as he chewed. Marty scrunched up his snout. Sans quickly swallowed, fearing another lecture. The lizard man rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm leaving." He muttered "Wingdings is probably wondering where I am anyway."

"Farewell." Toriel said, waving one paw. Marty acknowledged the motion with a snort and left, closing the door with a soft click.

Sans felt himself relax immediately. Apparently, the Princess caught this, as she giggled again.

"Does Marty get on your nerves?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Yeah!" Sans said with a grin "I take it he gets on yours too?"

Toriel nodded slightly, not keeping the small smile off her face "He's quite….infuriating, at times-"

"Y'mean always." Sans corrected her. He shrugged "Though I 'preciate the lessons and such."

"You do?" Toriel said. She muttered to herself a moment, covering her mouth with one paw as her eyes travelled about the room. Sans trained his focus on the cinnamon bread in front of him, enjoying the strange sensation that was monster food.

Vaguely, he registered the princess was strolling about the room. She knelt down and picked something off the floor, and there was a small squeak of excitement. Sans, now finished with the delicious bun, watched her with much confusion. She smiled at him, turning about and holding the book he had been reading in between her paws.

"Have you been reading this?" She asked, shoulder risen and voice high in pitch. Sans, confused, simply gave a curt nod of his head. The Princess's smile grew, spreading across her snout. She dropped herself down next to Sans on the bed, staring him down "How far are you in it?"

"Er….Chapter five." Sans said, a bit abashed. Toriel frowned a moment, then opened the book up in her lap.

"Perhaps I can read it with you? Then you can get further faster." She suggested. Sans rose an eyebrow at her, not helping his wide, teeth-baring grin.

"Y'sound eager to have me read this, Princess." He said.

"Oh hush." Toriel rolled her eyes, pushing one of her ears out of her face. She smiled down at the book fondly "I quite enjoyed this book when I was younger. I would not mind re-reading it."

Sans shrugged "Yeah, okay. I wouldn't mind reading it." He laughed at his own joke, though a blush quickly crept across his cheeks. He cleared his throat "Though yer gonna have to tell me what some of these words mean."

"Can do." Toriel hummed with a small nod of her head. "Chapter five, correct? Let us get started…."


	10. Chapter 10

Sans propped his head up on his hands, listening intently to the Princess of Monsters as she read from the book. Her voice was a song, rising and falling and lilting and lifting. She read each character different, she read dialogue different from narration. She read of stars and adventures and _space._ Of beautiful swirling galaxies and the Milky Way.

A beautiful voice interrupted only by his own. He hated it, how much he didn't know. So many of the words went right over his head, so he had to stop her and ask what they meant. No matter how many times he interrupted her, she remained calm and patient as she explained with a smile. After it was confirmed Sans now knew the meaning of the word, she'd go back to reading just to be interrupted again not too long after. There was certain harmony to it he found he couldn't ignore. How easily she'd explain, how she'd read, how even, eventually, his questions found a spot in the music.

Sans stole glances. He stole quick looks of her eyes, of her shoulders, her claws. And he found her claws dissolved into paws that curled into the cover of the book as if they were cupping water. That her gaze was soft yet bright, gleaming when action picked up but still sparkling as it died down. Her shoulders were down, lax, and she was completely at ease.

He could've killed her right then, he found; she was so invested in her own world. His stomach sunk at the thought, and the thoughts that followed. Her words began to fade away from his focus as his mind wandered.

His wounds would be healed soon enough. And then that happens, what would happen next? He'd just go back to dusting monsters left and right? What if he had another run in with Sydna? With the Nurse? With Marty? With _her?_ His throat went dry as his chest tightened.

He wouldn't be able to kill any of them. Not even Marty. What would he do?

"Excuse me, Mr. Human?" Toriel's voice shook him from his thoughts "Are you feeling all right? You look awfully pale…"

Sans shrugged, shooting her a wink "Yeh, dontcha worry 'bout me."

She smiled with a tilt of her head "Very well, if that is what you insist."

Sans nodded, shuffling to reposition himself "I kinda zoned out there though. Mind re-readin' the last two pages?"

Toriel rolled her eyes, flipping back to designated number. She cleared her throat, beginning to read again when the door was all but kicked down.

"Toriel!" Sydna howled, sprinting to her side. Disregarding the book in the claws of the Princess, she grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet.

"Sydna? What is it?" Toriel sputtered as she stumbled to gain her balance.

"A group of humans!" Sydna reported quickly "Maybe twenty of 'em. Heading right to camp!"

"…I see," She said. She smoothed down her skirts, flexing her paws to summon spheres of flame. Snorting, she trotted away "Did you tell Asgore?"

"Yes Ma'am," Sydna said, following her stride for stride. There was no trace of the friendship Sans had gotten used to seeing between them. In its place was a disturbing distance, no longer two monsters, but a Queen and her Soldier.

"Mr. Human," Toriel addressed him. Her eyes were still bright, but no long a soft glow. Rather more like the glint of a knife.

"Yeah?" Sans said.

"I am going to ask you to be on your own for a short while," She said curtly. On Sans's nod, she turned and left, Sydna following along.

And the music came to an abrupt halt.

Sans swallowed, sweat running down the sides of his face. His heart marched in his chest. Heat came to his face in waves. Would he have to choose so soon? He shook his head and picked up the book Toriel had discarded. A few of the pages had become crumpled when she dropped it so he did his best to smooth it back out.

Staring blankly at the pages, his heart sunk lower. Again he shook his head. Closing the book and tossing it to the floor, the human dropped to his side, curling up as much as he was able. His eyes squeezed shut. And eventually, he drifted off to sleep. To a memory.

" _Sans! Sans!" cried a shrill voice. Sans woke with a start, all but falling off of the tree limb he had been snoozing on. A quick search and he found the speaker. A quick flick of the wrist and his knife was in his hand, and he was on the ground in front of the fair-haired child._

" _What is it!?" Sans snapped, blue eyes blaring bright._

" _W-wow!" Squeaked the boy. "S-sorry, Sans! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to show you this!"_

_Sans sighed, letting his body go lax before he turned to look down at his companion. A fair-haired boy with bright blue eyes, a splotch of freckles across his round face. He grinned up at him, presenting what appeared to be a rather lopsided pinecone. Sans grinned and ruffled his hair._

" _Well, you lose points for show, but it's a nice 'cone there, Phyllis." He said. Phyllis stuck his bottom lip out in a pout._

" _Well if you didn't sleep in trees all the time, I wouldn't have had to yell." He pointed out with a shrug._

" _Point taken." Sans said with a bit of a chuckle. He shoved his hand in his pockets, smiling fondly at the boy as he broke into a grin._

" _ **Sans!"**_

_The voice broke the dream._

" _Toriel!?" Sans exclaimed, turning on heel to stare into the darkness. He stumbled back, bursting through Phyllis like he were made of fog. The grassy, sunny mid-day suddenly went black. Sans shook his head, clutching at his scalp. "No, that can't be Toriel, she doesn't know my name..."_

_Blood splattered the ground in front of him. Sans jumped, his foot slipping and sending him plummeting into the ground. He scrambled, frantically trying to get back to his feet. But cold, clammy fingers interlocked his own, latching them to the ground._

" _Gah-!" Sans yelped, throwing his body back. But his hands stayed where they were, and when he jerked his fingers let out a sickening_ craaacck! _Sans bit down on his lip to avoid screaming._

_Wincing, he looked through one eye. Beneath him was a smiling face._

"There you are~!" _It cooed. It's smile slipped down into a frown "_ Now if only I can find you in the real world."

"… _.Who ARE you?" Sans strayed to ask. The face smiled, the corners of that ghastly grin curving inward at the corners of its eyes._

"I'm-"

"WAKE UP, ASSHOLE!"

"Gah!" Sans jumped, kicking out on instinct. The monster who woke him up ducked underneath his leg, straightening the glasses that sat on his snout. Sans rubbed his eyes "Marty? Goddam, dontcha think ya can wake me up with a bit more _tact?"_

"First, good job using that word correctly." Marty said with a curt nod "But that's not why I woke you up-"

"Shi-shoot, am I behind on my studies or somethin'?" Sans said.

"No." Marty snorted "Human, listen, this is important. The Princess and Sydna went out to fight off some invaders but there's a bit of a problem… That being, they haven't reported back to camp yet."

Sans frowned "Why the heck would Toriel go out? Shouldn't she be in the camp givin' orders?"

"That's what I told her." Marty snorted "But that's not important. Human, NEITHER of them came back yet. Which means they're either dead or they need help."

"And…you want ME to help?" Sans muttered, arching an eyebrow. Marty snorted, slapping his claws onto Sans's shoulder, steering his face so they were eye-to eye.

"Do you want them to die?" He scowled. Sans pushed him away.

"Of course not! But how d'ya know they need help? It could just be a long battle."

"Intuition." Marty said "And mine is never wrong."

Sans snorted "Intuition ain't a hell lot to go off of. Call me when its fact-"

"HOOMAN!" A new voice squeaked, barreling in through the door. The Nurse stumbled to her feet, covered in scrapes and twigs. She bolted over to him, slapping her paws on either side of his face. "TORI AND SYDNA IN TWOUBLE! SURROUNDED! TOO MANY OOTHER HOOMANS! HALP!"

"It just became fact." Marty muttered. He reached into a bag Sans just now noticed he brought and pulled out a large, jagged knife. The blade in between his claws, he handed it to Sans.

The human stared at it a moment. A grin creasing his features. He took it "Oh, good ol' Knifey. _Knife_ to have you back-"

"NU TOIME FOR POONS! HELP DA TORIS AND SYDNAS!"

Sans flipped the knife into his hand, hopping to his feet "On it."


	11. Chapter 11

Sans leapt from tree to tree, his knife in hand and at the ready. He kept all his sense open, searching for any sounds of Sydna or Toriel. Luckily, Sydna was incredibly loud so it was more or less easy to find her. 

 

Peering through the leaves of the tree he saw the To-Be Queen and the Captain cornered. Several piles of dust scattered about, marking the fate of monsters that had come to help them. Sydna was bleeding from an open wound engraved into her side. Toriel’s white fur was painted red in several places. The tunic she wore was torn, revealing the shine of armor hidden underneath. 

 

The two monsters were pinned against a cliff face, sweating and shaking and looking ever so desperate. The humans had them surrounded in a semi-circle, all brandishing weapons of different sizes, all of them deadly. 

 

Sans crouched, his blue eyes blazing as he watched. When one man wielding a sword took a step forward, Sans jumped.

 

He landed soundly on his feet, crouching as he made contact with the ground. The next moment, he was up in the air again, knife ripping through the exposed skin on the nape of the man’s neck. The first foe was down.

 

At his attack, several of the humans swerved to face him. One lunged at him with a spear. Sans jumped over it, landing squarely on the shaft. Balancing on it, he darted forward and swiped with his knife at his eyes. Blood welled from the cut, staining his blade and slicking down the spearman’s face. He screamed, dropping his weapon to clutch at his eyes.

 

At that same moment, another swordsman charged from behind him. Sans again jumped just in time to get out of the way as the swordsman’s blade slid into the torso of his companion. His eyes wide, he withdrew the blade quickly just so his ally could collapse.

 

An archer aimed from the brush, sweat slicking his face as he watched the newcomer take down a third man. Arrow tip steadily aimed at Sans’s head, he took a breath and shot-

 

A blue spear struck the arrow down. And in the next moment, the spear also took down its shooter. Sydna scowled, whirring around on one heel to throw her spear at another human, lodging it into his arm. 

 

Toriel ducked underneath the head of an axe, avoiding it with just a sliver of fur cut. Growling, she summoned flames to her claws and swiped upward, cutting through metal and flesh alike. Her target let out an agonized scream as the fire ran deep in his flesh. 

 

Sans jumped back into the trees, watching for another opening. Panting heavily, he gripped his side which throbbed angrily, bringing spots to his sight. Sweat was matting his hair to his face and he fought to breathe rhythmically. He wiped at his forehead with his sleeve, turning his attention once again to the battle bellow. 

 

With a the opening Sans had created, Toriel and Sydna quickly gained the upper hand. Despite their wounds, they fought with all the force of a raging fire. Well, Toriel did as fire seemed to be her magic. 

 

She avoided blades with swift movements and went right into the openings of their attack with her claws ablaze. Her wounds didn’t seem to slow her down at all. 

 

Sydna faired very much the same. Except louder. She seemed to enjoy yelling taunts and threats at her opponents. And when they began to dodge a bit too much for her liking, she turned their SOUL green. And at that moment of confusion would drive a spear right in their heart. 

 

It wasn’t long until the humans had either fled or died, and the two monsters stood victorious. Toriel struggled with her torn tunic a moment, pulling it up over her head. Carefully, she tore a strip of it off and began tying it around her wounds. Sydna flexed her claws out, placing them lightly on her side as a green glow began to ease into her injury.

 

Sans jumped down from his tree just to get a spear pointed at his throat. He held his hands up, quirking an eyebrow at Sydna. Upon recognition, she dismissed the spear and it disappeared into a shower of sparks.

 

“Hello, Mr. Human.” Toriel greeted, her voice strained “It was quite nice of you to join us.”

 

Sans laughed, then grimaced, clutching onto his side. Toriel’s eyes widened and she let out a slight gasp. “Are you all right-?”

 

“I’m fine.” Sans cut her off. He gave her one of his big grins “I think I just pushed myself a bit there. Don’t worry ‘bout it. How are the two of ya?”

 

“I’ll live.” Sydna reported, her eyes darting over to Toriel “Tori-”

 

“I’ll be fine.” The Princess said calmly. Her red gaze was soft as it fell back onto Sans “I apologize to be so direct, but you must go back as soon as possible.”

 

Sydna nodded “Yeah, we’re probably going to have reinforcement coming here pretty soon. So….Shoo.”

 

Sans snorted “Whatev’s, cap’n.” He gave a slight wave, and with that jumped back into the trees. It took a little while for him to get his bearings, and the pain in his stomach certainly didn’t help, but he found his way back to the shack without incident. 

He found no one was there at the moment and sighed. He closed the door behind him and locked it before going over to the table. There, several medical supplies were laid out. Sans selected a nice roll of bandages before setting himself down on his bed.

 

Grunting, he managed to get his cloak and his shirt off. Biting down on his lip, he resisted the urge to hiss out in pain as he ripped off the bandages. Red stained the white. Sans swore to himself. His wound must’ve reopened sometime during the fight.

 

He sighed again and began to redress the wound. Afterwards, he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling of the shack.

 

Killing people wasn’t new to him. He’s done it a lot. Well….not quite a  _ lot,  _ but he’s killed more people than he cared to count. So….anywhere past ten. Including that fight he just had. His heart sunk.

 

“No way I can go back to them now…” He hummed to the empty room. The humans that fled would surely tell them what had happened. And someone would probably put together who the white-haired man was. With that, there’d be no way he could return to the humans and there’d be no way he’d get the rest of his paycheck. 

 

Sans sighed again. He didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep.

 

So he did.

 

* * *

 

 

“OW THAT HURT!” Sydna roared, pulling away from the small yellow lizard. Marty straightened his glasses, scowling.

 

“Well, perhaps if you hadn’t gotten yourself injured this wouldn’t have happened.” he said curtly.

 

“MWORPHINE!” NurseTem howled, holding a syringe of the stuff over her head. Sydna back-pedaled away.

 

“No! I hate that stuff! It dulls your mind and-” she was cut off by the Nurse jabbing the needle into the crook of her arm. Sydna swayed, scowling a little “That stuff acts way too fast…”

 

“Moi special recipe.” The Nurse chirped happily, tail a-waggin’.

 

Toriel sighed, leaning back in her chair and rubbing at the fresh bandages that coated her arm. Her eyes did a quick scan of the tent. Only them four were there, so she strayed a question.

 

“Do you think the human is okay?” 

“Which one?” Sydna muttered, her eyes half-closed.

 

“Go tu sleep, Sydnas.” NurseTem said, patting the fish lady on her arm. 

 

“Maybe.” Marty answered Toriel’s question “He’s pretty persistent, whether he thinks he is or not. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

 

“I hope so.” Toriel sighed. They all sat in silence a few minutes. Well, Marty and Toriel did. Sydna was mumbling around alligators on skateboards. The Nurse was muttering about how her special morphine may have too much of her special ingredient in it. 

 

Then the opening of the tent was thrown aside, revealing King Asgore.

 

“Tori!” He howled, scooping his fiance up in a hug.

 

“Gorey!” Toriel chirped happily, returning the hug. Marty snorted, getting in between them.

 

“Your Majesty, put her down. You’re going to reopen her wounds.” he said.

 

“Oh. Yes, of course.” Asgore said, gently placing Toriel back on her chair. He shuffled his feet “Tori my dear, I was so worried! They told me what happened. Are you and The Captain all right?”

 

“‘Vrything’s fine, Gorey.” Sydna said, slurring over her words. Asgore stared.

 

“Oh my, she must’ve hit her head.” he murmured.

 

“Nu, nu, she foine.” NurseTem said, giving the king a dismissive wave. Asgore looked confused but simply nodded, trusting the Tem to her word. 

 

“In any case” Toriel hummed “Gorey my dear, is everything all right around the camp? No humans?”

 

Asgore nodded “We did a thorough search around the camp. Not a trace of them aside from the ones you and Sydna fought.” He frowned “We also collected the dust of the others….”

 

Toriel nodded “That is good. We will throw a funeral for them at a later date. After we have all calmed down.”

 

“That sounds wonderful.” Asgore said with a small smile. His smile then dropped into a frown “Not the funeral thing, I mean- Well, yes we need to throw a funeral, but what I mean is what’s wonderful is-”

 

Toriel giggled “I understand what you mean, dear.”

 

Asgore’s small smile came back “Yes, of course, Tori.”

 

“GEEESH!” Sydna howled,throwing her arms up in the air “Why don’ y’two just KISS?”

 

“Defly tu much herbs…” NurseTem mused.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted on Fanfiction, if that's your preferred choice.  
> ~I'm new to Archive, please be kind~


End file.
